API, Sigma hang on result of PBS meeting

Listed pharmacy wholesalers
Australian Pharmaceutical Industries
and
Sigma Pharmaceuticals
are awaiting the outcome of today’s meeting by industry members to oppose the government’s decision to delay adding new medicines to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS), which subsidises ­medicine for millions of Australians.

Pharmacy industry leaders are set to lock horns with Health Minister
Nicola Roxon
and Finance Minister
Penny Wong
in Melbourne today, over the government’s plans to indefinitely delay the listing of a suite of new medicines on the PBS.

Currently the list of delayed medicines has treatments for lung disease, chronic pain and schizophrenia, to name a few.

“Introducing a tougher process for introducing new drugs to the PBS is a partial renege on the memorandum of understanding signed with Medicines Australia before last year’s Federal Budget," said one industry source yesterday.

“It begs the question: Are they going to renege on other parts of the agreement?"

Sigma and API are among those watching the outcome of today’s round table to see whether the government will make any concessions amid growing pressure from industry.

The PBS event, backed by the ­Australian Medical Association, Medicines Australia and a number of consumer groups, will put pressure on the ­government not to cut spending.

The latest Medicare data shows that the PBS grew 2.8 per cent in the year to March, below the 3.3 per cent inflation figure for the same period.

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“Pharmaceutical companies are entitled to be interested in the promotion of their products and business," Ms Roxon said in a statement yes­terday.

“But it is the government’s role to deliver for patients across the health spectrum, including subsidising medicines, funding hospitals and increasing GP numbers."

Australian Medical Association president
Andrew Pesce
said the decision to defer the listing of seven medicines had introduced uncertainty to the listing process, because it was made despite the fact the drugs were recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.

“I think the drug companies of Medicines Australia now have uncertainty as to how on earth they can be sure about how certain the listing process is," Dr Pesce said.

“They have to spend a large amount of money and it’s a high bar to clear already; this added uncertainty I think means they may be less likely to bring drugs to Australia."

Big pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Merck are reviewing their operations in a series of aggressive moves to cut costs before a wave of blockbuster drugs come off patent from 2012.